For years now, New Jersey Devils fans have been begging for Patrik Elias to be elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame. It hasn’t happened yet, but with one older player who was never elected going in every year now, there is hope for future inclusion.
Earlier in the week, with the announcement of the 2026 class, speculation for 2027 had already started. NHL Media had a post on social media about first-year candidates, and it included former Devils captain Zach Parise.
Will any of these 1st year eligible players make it into the @HockeyHallFame Class of 2027?
— NHL Media (@NHLMedia) June 24, 2026
📺: #NHLTonight on NHL Network https://t.co/AzlZ8gXjwV pic.twitter.com/61MFCbGBfM
Is it possible that Parise gets into the Hall at all, let alone before Elias? It is extremely unlikely. Parise was on a Hall of Fame trajectory when he left the New Jersey Devils for the Minnesota Wild in the summer of 2012, but injuries in his 30s slowed down his production drastically.
Until the end of his career, he was a solid offensive contributor, but he wasn’t a superstar much past the age of 32. That kept him from reaching 500 goals and 1000 points, which seems to be the benchmark for great forwards who never won the Stanley Cup.
Zach Parise has an uphill battle to beat Patrik Elias to the Hall of Fame
Parise did make the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame alongside fellow Devils legend (who also left very controversially in free agency) Scott Gomez last year. He is still one of the great American skaters of that era.
Are there forwards that will get in that you’d argue you’d rather have the best version of Zach Parise over? Absolutely, but that’s not what the Hockey Hall of Fame is.
Because of this, you can still expect Elias to be the next Devils great to reach the Hall. He eclipsed 1000 points in his career and won the Cup twice. He is also an NHL franchise’s all-time leading scorer, which has to count for something.
It is unlikely that Parise will ever be elected. He was an elite player on a long time, and he seemed to always find himself in a winning situation, but he never won the last game of the season. Elias, on the other hand, has done it all as a winger in the NHL.
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